


One Drink Too Many

by sugarcomatosed



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alfyn is shit faced: a saga, Drunken Confessions, F/M, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, Pining, i said today "i want to write something self indulgent and trashy and here we are"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 11:59:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19172830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarcomatosed/pseuds/sugarcomatosed
Summary: Men say the most interesting things after a few too many pints.





	One Drink Too Many

Drinking contests always made Primrose laugh. There was nothing quite like watching folks trip over themselves to win a contest that really, none could actually win. It was the audience who won. She shared this view with H’aanit who snorted. 

“Thou has a point.” H’aanit remarked.

They’d stopped briefly again in Victor’s Hollow and in a town ripe with competition it made sense that someone would start this fool’s game. Obleric had quickly jumped into the lead against the poor sod that had challenged him, and others had joined in. Theiron had nursed a few mugs, but mostly Primrose and H’aanit had watched their companion use the ruckus to steal some trinkets from patrons. Cyrus had declined, and was “refereeing”, he had given the pair a few knowing glances and seemed to share in their amusement. The professor was careful and though he had some ale, he knew better. 

“..I wonder if Cyrus, when he was younger and perhaps even more obliviously handsome got drunk as a skunk? Do you think that’s why he’s so committed to staying sober?”

It was a shame Ophilia and Tressa had already returned to the inn, Primrose could imagine Tressa howling with laughter at the thought, and Ophilia spitting out her drink at the thought. H’aanit was still excellent company though, and Linde of course. The huntress bit back a smile.

“…I almost thinketh we should asketh him.” H’aanit confessed. “It soundest like an amusing story.”

“Even if it’s not true, I’m sure there’s a diverting lecture in there.” Primrose agreed. “Like the one Alfyn will be getting in the morning.”

The youngest member of their present party was perhaps…one too many ales deep and Primrose had been watching him to make sure he was staying out of trouble. At this point Alfyn had given up on the competition and was merely laughing along as Obleric charged through another round. 

“…someone should get him back to the inn.” Primrose said. “…Do you think you and Cyrus can handle the remaining two?”

“Aye, if thou wants to head back with Alfyn, Cyrus and I can handleth Obleric. If I can handle Master, he shall be no trouble…Linde alone could handle Therion.” H’aanit reached down and scratched Linde behind the ears. 

“I am going to ask for a report in the morning of whatever fun I miss out on.” Primrose waggled a finger. “I can guarantee something will happen after I’ve gone. “ She rose from her chair and wove her way through the crowd towards their remaining companions. 

“I’ve come to relieve you of one of your students, Professor.” Primrose announced. 

“And I am most grateful for your help, fair Primrose.” Cyrus smiled and if Primrose was made of weaker stuff she might have been flustered by Cyrus’s charm.

Instead she rolled her eyes and worked her way past Cyrus to drop into the seat by Alfyn.

“Do you have enough medicine in your satchel to nurse the hangover you’re going to have come morning, Doctor Greengrass?” She asked, giving the younger man a sideways glance.

It took him just a moment to realize who was by his side, and Alfyn immediately stopped cheering on Obleric to better give his attention to Primrose. He leaned on one hand and thought.

“Shucks, Probably?” He laughed. “Hell if I know,” His cheeks were flushed. “Do think you’ll need some?” 

“No, probably not.” Primrose mused. She’d only had a drink or two and working as a dancer in Sunshade had given her a pretty strong tolerance for alcohol when she did indulge. Drinking here was a far cry from when she was paid to sit at a man’s arm…then she’d like to drink to forget…

She shook her head to clear the image from her head. That didn’t matter now.

“I do have a request for the Doctor though, if I may?” She asked, keeping up the patient’s farce a moment longer. “I’m going back to the inn, can you walk with me?” She smiled, tilting her head just so and using the sweet tone she always did when she convinced someone to follow.

Alfyn nodded brightly. “Sure thing!” He grinned. “Lemme just finish this-“

Primrose could see Cyrus resting his head in his hands as Alfyn chugged the last of his tankard. She tried not to laugh, but it was so hard not to, how could anyone watch people get this intoxicated and not laugh?

“See y’all in the morning!” Alfyn cried jovially. A crowd of people wished him a goodnight, and a chunk more whistled at Primrose. She rolled her eyes at that. 

“Are they all your friends?” She asked him. 

“You’re darn right! There’s Eric from down the street and-“ Alfyn started rolling off a list of the folks he’d been talking too. Primrose listened politely, nodding and asking questions where he wanted her too. She linked her arm with Alfyn’s, carefully pretending that he was escorting her and guided him easily past H’aanit who waved them off with a chuckle.

“And then there was Mr. Morris, he’s from out of town-“ Alfyn continued as they walked through the cool night air. “Am I talking too much?” He asked suddenly, knitting his brows together. “Am I bothering ya?”

“You’re fine!” Primrose assured him, tugging him along at a breezy pace.

She unlinked herself him and stretched up. “I’m impressed, I only spoke with H’aanit tonight.” Primrose laughed. “Meanwhile you’re befriending the whole village. “

“Lotta people asked about you Prim!” Alfyn informed her brightly. 

“And what did you tell them?” She asked, this was news to her. 

“I said, “You leave Primrose and H’aanit be! They’ve had enough fools coming to bother them when we go out!” He crossed his arms. “Last time some man tried to propose to H’aanit!” Alfyn shook his head. “I thought you wouldn’t want to deal with that again.” 

H’aanit had easily brushed the man off but still, the sentiment was sweet. 

“…thank you.” Primrose chuckled. “But I think the drinking contest Obleric had gotten himself in was enough to distract folks from us.” 

Alfyn shrugged. He frowned, looking more like a boy than a man for a moment. 

“I know you two would have been fine, but you know I figured it must get annoying having folks drooling over ya all the time. Hell! Even Professor Albright would be annoyed, well if only he noticed for once-“

This comment rewarded the apothecary with another laugh from Primrose and Alfyn looked mighty pleased at this.

There was still a bit of a walk to the inn and the cool air seemed to be sobering him up, if just a little bit. Primrose thought anyway.

“…Did you ask me to walk you back so I’d quit drinking?” Alfyn asked suddenly, his face was scrunched up. “You could have just told me to quit it, I’m not a drunkard Primrose-“

“Mhm,” The dancer nodded. “I know,” She took his hand to make sure he didn’t trip over a rock in the path. 

Alfyn huffed. “You’re babying me! I’m a man, Prim!” He said, sounding like a child. “Shucks!” 

“You’re cute.” Primrose informed him, swinging their joined hands lazily. “You’re like a puppy, Alfyn.” A stumbling puppy with paws that were still too big for it, but still trying all the same. 

He grumbled at this. This was the first time the drunk young man had shown anything other than joviality the entire night and she tried not to laugh. 

“You keep laughing at me!” He protested. “You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?” Alfyn was almost sulking now.

She shook her head. “I’m not making fun of you, I think you’re charming.” 

“You’re charming!” Alfyn replied earnestly. Primrose raised an eyebrow.

“Oh am I?” 

“You’re the most charming person I’ve ever met, even when you’re making fun of lil ol’ me.” He said sternly. “I’d follow you anywhere-“

“That’s enough of that.” Primrose cut him off. “No need to flatter me.” 

“Not flattery if it’s true.” Alfyn argued. He smiled brightly at her. “I mean it, Prim.”

“Men mean lots of things when they’re drunk, Alfyn.” Primrose consoled him gently.

“I don’t just mean it because I’ve been drinking!” Alfyn shot back. “Believe me!” He glared. 

Primrose shook her head. “Goodness, are you always this argumentative? You hardly ever raise your voice when you’re sober.” 

“That’s a big fat lie.” Alfyn reminded her. “You saw me argue with Vanessa and that two faced jackass-“ Alfyn was getting grumbly. Better get him to bed sooner. 

“How could I forget,” Primrose said before Alfyn started thinking too hard about Miguel and ended up upsetting himself. She knew Alfyn well enough to guess if he thought too much he’d upset himself. 

“You were very dashing when you came to everyone’s rescue.” She tossed a compliment his way to distract him. 

“Shucks! You’re just trying to…trying to…” Alfyn fumbled. Primrose almost felt guilty about it, but the cute way he fumbled around with his words kept her from feeling too bad. 

“Why don’t you tell me more about your friends?” She asked. 

“..Zeph?” Alfyn asked, scrunching up his nose as he thought.

“Sure, tell me about Zeph.” Primrose nodded. They were on the doorstep now.

Primrose waved to the innkeep’s son and the young man seemed to follow the scenario. Alfyn chattered on as Primrose guided him carefully up the stairs into his room.

“And Zeph just felt so bad about the whole thing but, I don’t blame him none. I was the one who caused it cause I had to tell him, but it worked out in the end and we’re still friends, I trust him with my life-“

“He seems really kind, Alf.” Primrose nodded gently prodding the young man to sit down on his bed. “Take your shoes off.” 

Alfyn obediently undid his boots’ laces and then looked up at Primrose expectantly for the next instruction.

…really he was too sweet. Primrose tugged his satchel off his arm and placed it on his nightstand. There. He should be fine now, and she could have him lay down and sleep the rest of this off. 

“…you goin?” Alfyn asked. He tilted his head and looked….disappointed. 

“I am. I’ll see you in the morning. Thank you for walking me back.” Primrose said, and she really did mean it. She always enjoyed having Alfyn around…he was a calming presence and did his best to always put her at ease. 

“….oh.” Alfyn mumbled. He looked down for a moment. 

“What, do you want me to kiss you goodnight?” Primrose laughed. She was expecting the poor intoxicated boy to turn red or start apologizing but what comes out of his mouth instead made her freeze. 

“So fucking badly.” 

 

 

She stared at him. Alfyn was silent.

“…excuse me?” 

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for, shucks, months now,” Alfyn clarified. His cheeks were flushed and at this point she couldn’t tell if it’s from the booze or the words that left his mouth. 

“…how much did you have to drink?” Prim asked, drawing back a tiny bit. Alfyn must have had more than she thought. 

“Drinking has nothing to do with it Prim,” Alfyn protested, his mouth was set into a hard frown and he was staring at her with a look she hadn’t seen- or perhaps never noticed him wearing before. 

“You’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever met, that I’ll ever meet-“ He barreled on ahead. “And I’ve been thinking that for ages now Prim-“ Alfyn raised his voice. “I just-“

He looked so serious, so stern.

“…Where on earth is this coming from? Primrose twiddled with her necklace to distract herself. 

Alfyn frowned. “Do you not believe me?” He asked. 

“That’s not what we’re discussing here.” She chided. “What has possessed you to tell me this now?”

Alfyn thought. “…I like being with you.” He said. “I want to stay with you, always-“

“Enough of that. We’re nipping that in the bud before you say something you regret.” Primrose interrupted. 

Alfyn huffed. “I mean it! All of it!” He insisted. “I want to say it! Therion told me there was no way I could tell you and he’s full of shit-“ Alfyn’s focus slipped for a moment. “He was busting my balls all night saying bullshit like that-“

“That little bastard.” Primrose grunted. “Is that what he was doing?” 

Therion had been, in between rounds, making some remarks to Alfyn and she’d thought of it as just their usual banter. 

“If he wasn’t my friend I’d smack him upside the head!” Alfyn announced. Prim shook her head.

“Alfyn, I think you should go to bed.” Prim said instead. Alfyn was silent for a moment. He then stood up, surprisingly steadily considering and grabbed her hands before she could protest. 

“I think I love you.” He murmured.

“You can’t mean that.” She scolded. “Alfyn, if you’re in there behind all the ale, think about what you’re saying.

She had to look up at him, which was unfair. She was older then him. He wasn’t allowed to take charge, that was her job. 

He smiled and turned his warm eyes on her. 

“I have.” 

It was her turn to blush. 

Alfyn wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. She could smell the lingering scent of his ale on his clothes. She detested the smell normally. It brought back too many things she’d rather she forgot. But it also brought with it the fresh smell of pressed herbs and medicine… It brought Alfyn. 

The tension left her shoulders ever so slowly and she relaxed into him. She rested her head along his surprisingly sturdy frame and Alfyn sighed happily. 

They stood like that for a while. 

“Thanks for getting me back.” He said at last, letting Primrose go free. “See you in the morning.” He had the dopiest grin spread across his face.

She nodded mutely and found her way to his room’s door. 

“..Night, Primrose.” Alfyn called. She turned back to look at him. He was smiling still. 

“…Goodnight.” Was all could she muster as she left.

When she arrived in her room, Prim tucked her arms around herself and sat on her bed. 

“…I may have kept him out of trouble at the tavern,” She thought. “…but I think he found a different kind of trouble to get into all the same.”  
All this excitement from a silly drinking contest.

 

Alfyn groaned into his pillow, something that sounded vaguely like “fuck me” or perhaps even “fuck this”. 

There was no way in hell he was getting up on time for them to leave early like they’d originally planned. If he felt this crappy, he could only imagine how the victor felt. 

His head was singing and he felt a bit queasy. Alfyn opened his eyes and then immediately closed them. The light trickling through his curtain was blinding. He sat up, screwed his eyes shut and fumbled for his bag. Some ginger would definitely help and get his head set on straight.

His fingers brushed the leather bag and he attempted to grab it. He almost had it- there was a solid thump as he instead knocked his apothecary satchel onto the ground. 

…that was an encouraging omen for his day. Alfyn tried to not let it mean to much as he cleaned up and changed.

There was no sign of Obleric or Therion downstairs, Tressa either. She must have been taking advantage of the late start to sneak in a little extra shuteye. The others were milling around in the entranceway where their host had set up a little breakfast nook.

Cyrus sighed at Alfyn. “You look ghastly, my boy.” 

“Can’t look any worse than I feel.” Alfyn grunted in response. “I think I over did it.”

“Certainly, Primrose walked thee back last night. Does thou remember?” H’aanit inquired. Alfyn thought.

He remembered bits, leaning on Primrose’s arm…the scent of her perfume, she’d been teasing him again, at least if his memory was trustworthy. 

“…I think so. Sorry for all the trouble.” Alfyn yawned. “Think I might have some tea. My stomach’s still not right. Where’s Prim?”

Ophilia passed the teapot to Alfyn helpfully. “She went up to gather her things. She said she’d be down soon.”

Alfyn went to pour himself a cup of tea when he felt something brush up against him. Linde was under the table, chowing down on some sausage links. His stomach did a nasty flip and he placed the teapot down.

“…Think I’ll go apologize for causing her so much trouble first.” He said abruptly. Moving quickly wasn’t helping his head, but the smell of all the food was making him queasy. He ascended the stairs and quickly knocked on her door.

“Be there in a moment,” Her voice called. He smoothed his clothes down and hoped he didn’t look too raggedy. Primrose opened the door and looked up at him in surprise. 

“Oh.” Prim stopped. “Good Morning.”

“Ah…Mornin!” He pushed out his best grin. 

“…need something?” She asked. Why was she giving him such a weird look?

“…Only a moment of your time. Sorry for causin’ ya so much trouble last night. I reckon I overdid it.” Alfyn laughed sheepishly. 

Primrose studied him. 

“…I don’t remember everything but…thanks for getting me back safe Prim, I owe you one.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “So whenever you want to rely on me, or ask for a favor, I’m ready and waiting.” 

Why did she look so serious? Alfyn fretted. He had done /something/ stupid that he didn’t remember didn’t he? Of course he did, he was crazy about Primrose so he probably said something dumb or foolish-

“…do you still want to kiss me?” Primrose asked, an almost innocent look on her face. 

What little remaining color there was in his face immediately fled. “…Pardon?” Alfyn cleared his throat. “I must have misheard you, did you-“

“I asked if you still wanted to kiss me.” She repeated, almost casually. 

He glanced around. The others were still downstairs. “Did…did I say I wanted to, last night?” Alfyn asked in a small, flustered voice.

Primrose’s lips twitched. “Maybe.” 

“Oh.” Alfyn stared at the top of her doorframe. “Um.” 

“…Well.” He continued. 

She was waiting.

“…can we…can we talk about this later? Maybe even tomorrow?” Alfyn chuckled nervously. 

Primrose thought.

“…Certainly.” She said. “…I’d rather kiss you when you’re sober anyway. I’ll be down soon, save a spot for me? ” And she smiled once and closed the door. 

“S-Sure!” was all he could squeak out in reply.

**Author's Note:**

> Some days you just gotta write something trashy for yourself. All that stayed from the original thought was Alfyn bluntly admitted he wanted to kiss Primrose and I am a little sad I somehow lost the kiss, but this was an absolute blast to write lmao. I can finally feel satisfied that I've posted something for my three fav octopath ships...as I say this I realize I still need to do something for Obleric/Erhardt....give me time. 
> 
> There's a few small dumb things hidden in here, not too many but I'll be delighted if anyone catches them. I've got nothing else to say lol. AlfPrim....good. Also my formatting never pastes right but it doesn't bug me enough to fix it rn maybe later.


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